Winding Circle High
by KitLee
Summary: What if the dedicates were in high school? Please r/r!
1. Meet the students

Winding Circle High School  
by KitLee  
  
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters aren't mine. They belong to Tamora Pierce.  
  
A/N: This is my version of the adults at high school very similar to mine. I might do another version with the kids (Briar, Sandry, Daja, and Tris).  
  
  
Chapter 1 - Meet the Students  
  
*****  
  
Niko Goldeye was sitting on the front steps of Winding Circle High, waiting for his friends to arrive. He'd had to arrive early to talk to the Student Council, Science Club, Math Club, and chess club sponsers. Niko prided himself of keeping busy.  
  
Just then he saw her. She was walking into school talking animatedly, surrounded by a large group as usual. She was laughing and smiling; and as they passed Niko, he couldn't help but stare at her. He knew that his best friend thought that his crush on her was stupid, but Niko didn't care. To him, there was no one more perfect than Lark.  
  
A whack on the head jolted him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see a very cross-looking girl with brown hair.  
  
"Hi Rosethorn," Niko said sheepishly.  
  
"Still enamoured of the princess, I see," Rosethorn said.  
  
Niko shrugged. "I'm not enamoured of her," he muttered.  
  
"Yes you are," Rosethorn said, sitting down next to him. They were best friends and had been for years. "You know it'll never work out."  
  
"Why not?" Niko asked defensively.  
  
"Why not? Hmmm, maybe because she's a cheerleader, and you're a nerd. Maybe because she only dates jocks, and you're a nerd."  
  
"I'm not a nerd," Niko said.  
  
"Niko! You're president of the math, science, and chess clubs for god's sake!"  
  
"So what about you?" Niko asked, changing the subject. "What about you and Crane?"  
  
Rosethorn made a terrible face. "Gross! I'm not interested in that -- that, brat."  
  
"But you said -" Niko began.  
  
"That was years ago," Rosethorn snapped. "I'm sorry I even mentioned it to you."  
  
"It's strange to think how much things have changed," Niko said, changing the subject yet again. While it was fun to tease Rosethorn, he knew not to do it too much.  
  
"Yeah," Rosethorn said. "Remember when we were kids. Lark, Frostpine, and even that idiot Crane were all part of our little group."  
  
Niko nodded. "Oh," he said. "Here's your schedule. I got it from the office, you know, to save you the trouble to standing in line."  
  
"Thanks." Rosethorn took it and grabbed Niko's to compare them.  
  
"We have homeroom together," Niko told her. "And we both have first lunch." He paused. "So do the populars." That's what they called their ex-best friends.  
  
"I wish -" Rosethorn began, but he never found out what she wished because just then the bell rung. They grabbed their stuff and joined the mad rush to class, passing the vice-principal, Ms. Moonstream.  
  
*****  
  
Lark was so excited on the first day of school that she woke up at 5:30. She lay in bed, thrilled to be going back to school where all her friends were. Best of all, she'd gotten a phone call a few days earlier. Ms. Moonstream (the vice-principal) told her that Maria and Victoria -- the two seniors on the varisty cheerleading squad -- had gotten pregnant and had quit the squad, making Lark head cheerleader.  
  
Anyway, she'd quickly gotten ready for school, combing her short black curls and putting on minimal make-up. Her natural beauty made the other girls horribly jealous. Anyway, after picking the perfect clothes, she'd run out and driven her blue bug to school. As soon as she got out her car -- right next to a rather old-looking car -- she'd instantly been surrounded by her friends. Lark smiled to herself, those girls could barely function without her.  
  
They walked to the office, laughing and gossiping. Once at the office, they'd immediately passed to the head of the long line for schedules. It was common knowledge that Lark and her group ran the school, especially now that she was head cheerleader.   
  
They were wandering through the hall when she saw her best friend, Frostpine. Unlike her other friends, she and Frostpine had been friends ever since first grade. Out of their group in elementary school, he was the only one she was still friends with.   
  
"Hi Frostpine," she called happily.  
  
He came over and gave her a hug. "Hi Lark. You know, I heard a rumor that -"  
  
She grinned. "It's true. You're looking at Winding Circle's youngest head cheerleader in over a decade."  
  
He smiled back. "Congratulations. You've really earned it."  
  
Behind them, her friends whispered and giggled. Everyone thought that Lark and Frostpine should become a couple, but Lark knew that it would never happen. They were just friends -- best friends -- and she wasn't about to screw that up.  
  
"So, who do you have for homeroom?" he asked. "I got Marksman."  
  
Lark looked at her schedule. "Me too." She turned to her group. "What about you guys? Are any of you in Marksman for homeroom?" They shook their heads.  
  
"Well, I guess it's just you and me," Frostpine said.  
  
She laughed. "The dynamic duo, together again."  
  
The first bell rang, and she and Frostpine headed off for homeroom.  
  
*****  
  
Crane moodily headed up the stairs to the third floor. He had Marksman for homeroom, something that he was annoyed by. Not only did none of his friends had Marksman, but also his ex-best friends from elementary school were all in there.   
  
Crane thought back to those days. They were inseperable. The fantastic five, as Lark had called them. But when they left Emelan Elementary and entered Summersea Middle, things changed. They all had different interests: Lark became a cheerleader, Frostpine became a jock, Niko -- a year older -- was a brain, and Rosethorn acted even pricklier than before. But through all that, they managed to stay friends.  
  
No, what really broke them apart wasn't changing interests -- as much as everyone else wanted to believe it. No, it was love.  
  
During sixth and mainly seventh grades, he'd gotten a crush on Rosethorn. When she found out, she was furious. By then, Frostpine and Lark had already broke away for the same reason; and she was angry that he would do the same thing. Claiming Niko as her best friend, she had left him, leaving Crane without any friends.  
  
It had been awkward for all of them, but they'd gotten through it by avoiding each other. Now they had to be in the same homeroom, seeing each other every day. Crane didn't know how he would manage.  
  
Because, after all those years, he still had a thing for Rosethorn. She was just so stubborn and pretty and . . . perfect.  
  
Sighing, Crane walked into the classroom. It was going to be a long year. 


	2. Yesterday

Chapter 2 - Yesterday  
  
A/N: Instead of writing what happens next in the story, I decided to write what happened all those years ago that caused their group to break up. Each story is written like an essay from each person's point of view. Also, the title is from a Beatles song. Don't sue me!  
  
*****  
  
Crane: The Odd Man Out  
  
I don't really have a best friend right now. When I was a boy, though, I did. I had four: Lark, Niko, Rosethorn, and Frostpine. We were a group back in Emelan Elementary. Niko was the leader; Lark was the sweet one; Rosethorn was the tough one; Frostpine was the athletic one; and I was the serious, rich one. We got along great. Even though Niko was a year older than us, we were best friends through all of elementary and part of middle school.  
  
But then, in the seventh grade, everything came apart. Lark had left the group with Frostpine for some reason; no one ever told me completely. When I asked Rosethorn, she just spat out one word: love. At the same time, I had a crush on her. So, like any normal seventh grader, I asked her out.  
  
Rosethorn was furious at me. She kept ranting about how I was ruining everything. That I was making the same mistake Niko made. She ordered me to take it back, and I refused. So she just turned and walked away. That was the end. She began spending all of her time with Niko, as his best friend, leaving me with no one. We'd split into groups of two, but there were five of us, and I was the odd man out.  
  
*****  
  
Frostpine: Friends  
  
Despite all the friends I have now, no one can top the group of us in elementary school. That was the magic there - all of our differences didn't matter.  
  
When we got into Summersea Middle, I joined the football team. For a long time there was tension in our group; Lark and I were popular now, while Crane, Niko, and Rosethorn were not. But it was working fine until one night when Lark called me up. She sounded congested, like she'd been crying.  
  
Lark told me that she couldn't stay in the group anymore - something to do with her and Niko. I never pressed her for details, and she never provided any. We'd always been close, popular even back in elementary school. We were a lot alike, she told me, and she wanted someone to stay her friend. She asked me to leave the group with her, to take her side in this drama. And I said yes.  
  
Lark was always one of my best friends, and Niko and I didn't have anything in common. Besides, staying Lark's friend fit in with my new identity as Frostpine: jock. The bottom line was that I was better friends with her than with the others. So I left them and stayed with her.  
  
Now I'm in high school. I play football and basketball. I've dated several girls, and Lark is still my best friend. We've never dated. We couldn't. She is my best friend, like a sister to me. I know what Niko didn't, how to not ruin that.  
  
*****  
  
Niko: Left-Overs  
  
Everyone blames me for the break-up of our group. Rosethorn, the only one who is still my friend, tells me this several times a week. How was I supposed to know that Lark would react like that? I loved her. I still do love her, far beyond what her boyfriend-of-the-month does. I love her beauty, her kindness, her very essence. Anyway, after a year of middle school with her, I asked her out. I was an eighth grader, and everyone else was a seventh grader.  
  
I remember everything so clearly. I asked her to meet me in the library, just her and me. I pulled her into the stacks where we could get some privacy. She looked so cute and confused, but she let me lead her there. I took her hand and told her that I loved her, that I had and would always love her, and that I wanted nothing more than to go out with her.  
  
Lark looked at me with this deer-in-headlights expression. She looked down and bit her bottom lip. Then she said that magic word: yes.  
  
I smiled at her. "Yes?" I asked her hestiantly.  
  
Lark smiled up at me. "Yes," she said again, this time with more confidence.  
  
I bent down and kissed her, and she kissed me back. One kiss. That's all we got.  
  
Then the librarian came over and told us to stop making out, and I walked her home. It was magical.  
  
A few hours later, she called me. She told me that she'd changed her mind and that she didn't want to go out with me. She begged me to take it back, to let everything go back to normal. I said that I couldn't.   
  
"Lark," I told her pleadingly. "How can anything be the same? You've dumped me. You've . . . you've broken my heart."  
  
She began to cry. "I didn't want to hurt you, Niko. But I don't love you," she said. "Please, can't we all be friends again?"  
  
"No," I said coldly. My thirteen-year-old heart had been broken.  
  
"All right," she'd said quietly. The next day at school, I didn't see her at all. Rosethorn said that she had left the group and that Frostpine had gone with her. I was surprised; Rosethorn and Lark were best friends. That planted the thought in my mind that Frostpine had a thing for her, and it's never left.  
  
Soon after, Rosethorn kicked Crane out for wanting to go out with her. And it was just the two of us. Lark and Frostpine became popular, and Crane joined the rich snobs. But we were the left-overs.  
  
*****  
  
Rosethorn: Love Stinks  
  
I split the group. Oh, Niko may have actually freaked Lark out; but I was the one who, later that night on the phone, told her that I couldn't stay her best friend. I knew ever since the day she made the cheerleading squad that we were changing, and Lark couldn't stay best friends with bitchy little Rosethorn. So Lark took Frostpine with her, the other popular in our midst.  
  
Even though I was her best friend, I don't know what made her call up Niko and dump him like that. Even Niko doesn't know. He told me all that he does know, and neither of us can figure it out.  
  
After Lark and Frostpine left, I knew how much love could wreck everything. It had cut us from the fantastic five, as Lark called us, to just three. So when Crane asked me out and conveyed his undying love, I couldn't believe him. He was wrecking everything, right after we'd all gotten a lesson in how stupid love was.  
  
But the look on his face told me that I couldn't bully him into forgetting it. So I kicked him out. I told him that I didn't like him at all. Then I called Niko and told him that we were three no longer. It was just the two of us after that.  
  
I lied. I did like Crane. I still do -- just a tiny bit. But it can never work out. We've become far too different. He has followers now, cowering sycophants who spend all their time sucking up to him. Disguisting. Worse, he likes it. How could I get together with someone like that? So I hide it -- my feelings for him, my regret that the five of us can't stay best friends. I always was the tough, unemotional one. This is just a part of the mask I wear.  
  
*****  
  
Lark: Ruined  
  
I know I ruined everything. It is a terrible burden to bear, breaking up the fantastic five. They don't realize it, but it began long before I broke up with Niko. It began when I announced that I was trying out for the cheerleading squad.  
  
"You're what?" Crane had asked, staring at me as if I'd grown another head.  
  
I looked down self-consciously. "I'm trying out for the cheerleading squad. What's the big deal?" I asked innocently.  
  
They'd all exchanged looks. I knew that they were angry that I would abandon them like this, but I wanted to be a cheerleader. I was athletic and good at gymnastics. It seemed like fun. So they let me try out and later join. When I look back on all that happened, I trace it back to that fateful lunch when I announced, "Guess what? I'm trying out for the cheerleading squad."  
  
Then Frostpine joined the football team, and for a while everything was fine. Unfortunately, then Niko asked me out.   
  
It was in the library, in the section that sort of curved around so you couldn't see anyone in their from the outside. It was the most popular make-out place at school, so I was confused when Niko pulled me in there. He asked me out, and the way he looked -- so cute and earnest -- I couldn't say no. We kissed, and then he walked me home.  
  
Only, after I got home, I started thinking about what this would mean. What would everyone else say, now that we were a couple? How would this affect our friendship? I greatly valued Niko's friendship. Worse, what would happen when we broke up? I never doubted that we would eventually break up. Middle school relationships were even worse than high school relationships, and everyone knew that those never worked.   
  
Besides, he claimed to love me. How could he know? Why was he so sure? I wasn't sure. I knew that he was one of my best friends, but I didn't know if I loved him. I thought about it all night, hour after hour. Finally, I came up with only one solution: he would have to take it back. I wasn't about to let this ruin our best friendship.  
  
I called him up that night. "Hi Niko. It's Lark," I began.  
  
"Hi Lark." I could hear the smile in his voice. "How's my girlfriend?"  
  
I knew that this would be harder than I thought. Obviously, he was already enamoured with our dating. I decided that it was best to get it all over at once. "Niko, I don't think that we should go out. It was a mistake. I should never have said yes, and you never should have even asked. I don't want to go out with you. I just want everything to be normal, with us as best friends," I said quickly.  
  
There was a long silence. I could hear him thinking on the other end.   
  
"Lark," he said pleadingly. "How can anything be the same? You've dumped me. You've . . . you've broken my heart."  
  
I began to cry. "I didn't want to hurt you, Niko. But I don't love you," I said. "Please, can't we all be friends again?"  
  
"No," Niko said coldly.  
  
"All right," I said quietly. Part of me understood. If he'd broken up with me after less than one day, I'd be upset too.  
  
I knew that I couldn't be part of the group anymore. That option had been eliminated the moment he'd asked me to go out with him. So I called up Rosie, my best friend, to ask her to take my side. I'd expected her to say yes -- we were best friends, and everyone knew it -- but instead she said no. Just that: no. Without any explanation. So that left me with only one person.   
  
I called Frostpine last that night. We were pretty good friends. I wasn't sure that he would say yes; in fact, I expected him to turn me down and give me a "Lark, you're nuts" speech. So I was very surprised when he said, "Okay. Sure." Just like that. Easy.  
  
The next day at school was the hardest. I got there early and immediately went over to talk to the other cheerleaders. I avoided my ex-best friends all day. And that's the way it's been ever since.  
  
Sometimes I sit and wonder how different things would be if I'd never joined the cheerleading squad and had never dumped Niko. In most scenarios we would have split up eventually. We were just too different: one smart, one athletic, one tough and prickly, one sarcastic and sardonic, and one "psychotically cheerful" to quote Crane.   
  
But every now and then I think about how it would have been if we had never split up -- if we really had stayed best friends forever. If Niko and I could have made a relationship work. Because, after all that time and all I said, I realize now that I do love him. I have always loved him. And I wish -- I wish -- I wish that I could go back and fix everything. I, who ruined it. 


End file.
